Boutique Hotel 't Klooster

A Converted 1930s Monastery in the Historic Center

't Klooster — Dutch for "the cloister" — takes its name seriously. The building went up in 1930 as a monastery, and the renovation into a boutique hotel kept the bones rather than erasing them: a central inner courtyard, arched walkways, and a chapel that now seats diners instead of worshippers. It sits two floors tall with no elevator, a detail that keeps the property feeling residential rather than hotel-scaled, and the garden courtyard draws enough birdlife that several guests mention it as the thing they remember most. Twenty-five rooms spread across the building, finished in patterned tiles, eclectic furniture, and house plants that lean into the building's age rather than fighting it.

Why It Works

We loved 't Klooster because heritage conversions this coherent are rare on Curaçao, where boutique hotels often mean new construction with old-island styling rather than an actual old building. Here, the chapel-turned-restaurant and the cloister courtyard aren't decorative flourishes — they're the original structure, adapted rather than replicated. The pool is modest, more courtyard feature than resort centerpiece, which is consistent with a property that never tries to out-scale its own architecture. For a certain kind of traveler, that restraint is the entire appeal: a hotel that behaves like the historic building it actually is.

Why This Location

Pietermaai sits at the edge of Willemstad's UNESCO-listed historic center, a few minutes' walk from the Queen Emma pontoon bridge and the pastel merchant houses of Punda and Otrobanda. It's a neighborhood that has shifted from faded colonial district to one of the city's more interesting pockets over the past decade, with restored facades now holding restaurants, galleries, and small hotels rather than vacant lots. 't Klooster's location means guests can walk to the old town's bridges and waterfront rather than driving in for a few hours, a genuine advantage over the beach-resort properties clustered along the southeast coast.

Fast Facts

• Price: Mid-range

• Vibe: Converted 1930s monastery, cloister courtyard, historic-center boutique

• Rooms: 25 rooms across Comfort, Deluxe, and apartment-style suites

• Best For: Couples, history-minded travelers, guests who want to walk to the old town

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The former chapel, now a Mediterranean restaurant, with its original architecture intact

• Dining: Oliva Gastrobar, on-site Mediterranean restaurant and bar

• Amenities: Outdoor pool, garden courtyard, massage, meeting and banquet facilities, concierge

• Attractions: Queen Emma Bridge, Willemstad's historic center, Punda and Otrobanda

The Chapel, Now a Restaurant

Oliva Gastrobar occupies the hotel's former chapel, serving Mediterranean food for breakfast and dinner beneath what was once sacred architecture — vaulted ceilings and the kind of stillness that doesn't usually come with a restaurant kitchen attached. It's as much a reason to book a table from outside the hotel as it is a convenience for guests, and the outdoor seating extends into the courtyard for anyone who'd rather eat under the trees. Breakfast runs cooked-to-order each morning, a detail reviewers mention more consistently than any other meal.

Rooms Built Around the Courtyard

The room categories move from compact Comfort rooms to two-bedroom apartment suites that sleep four, each finished with the same patterned-tile, plant-heavy aesthetic rather than a stripped-down hotel-standard look. Several open directly onto the courtyard or carry their own terrace, and the lack of an elevator — a function of the building's age rather than an oversight — keeps the property feeling more like a restored house than a hotel block. The small pool sits inside that same courtyard, close enough to the rooms that it functions as a shared garden as much as a swimming spot.

Walking Willemstad's UNESCO Old Town

From 't Klooster, the Queen Emma Bridge and Handelskade's row of Dutch-gabled merchant houses are roughly a quarter-hour on foot, and the Maritime Museum and Punda's shopping streets sit along the same walk. It's a rare boutique stay on Curaçao where a car isn't the default way to reach the island's signature sights, and the Pietermaai district itself rewards a slow evening walk past restored facades and small galleries. Mambo Beach and the southeast coast's resort strip are a short drive away for guests who want a beach day without giving up the old-town base.